


Vieni a vedere l'avanzata dei deserti

by ginnyred



Category: SKAM (Italy)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drinking, F/M, House Party, Jealousy, Missing Scene, Pining, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 19:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18350612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnyred/pseuds/ginnyred
Summary: Eva doesn't see him arrive with the guys and she tells herself she doesn't care.“He's coming later,” Marti says, his eyes everywhere but on her face, and Eva is no maths genius, but it doesn't take one to put two and two together.Her face falls and she downs what's left of her drink in one go. She could have been subtler about it. Elia and Luca have already disappeared in the crowd, probably looking for the alcohol, but she sees Marti and Nico exchange a meaningful glance.





	Vieni a vedere l'avanzata dei deserti

**Author's Note:**

> This is tagged "unrequited" simply because, as far as Eva knows at this point, Gio has moved on. Just so we're clear :P

Eva doesn't see him arrive with the guys and she tells herself she doesn't care.

“He's coming later,” Marti says, his eyes everywhere but on her face, and Eva is no maths genius, but it doesn't take one to put two and two together.

Her face falls and she downs what's left of her drink in one go. She could have been subtler about it. Elia and Luca have already disappeared in the crowd, probably looking for the alcohol, but she sees Marti and Nico exchange a meaningful glance.

“So, the plan fell through,” Marti offers conversationally.

“Mh?”

“The Elia and Silvia plan. It fell through.”

“Oh.” Eva looks at Nico. “Why?”

“Well, Luc-” Nico starts, but he corrects himself quickly, noticing Marti's warning look. “I mean, objections were raised.”

“Okay.”

Eva shrugs. Whatever, she was pretty sure it was never going to work anyway.

She is a bit surprised when Nico drops the topic, and offers her his hand with a smile instead.

“Wanna dance?”

Eva really doesn't. But then she thinks that this way at least when Gio arrives he will see her having fun and maybe... Eva sighs and lets Nico lead her to the dancefloor.

He's not a great dancer, but his enthusiasm is contagious and soon enough she doesn't have to pretend she's having fun. When Marti joins them a few minutes later it gets even funnier because Marti can't dance _at all_. He just sort of stands there nodding vaguely in time with the music.

Eva starts laughing, but she doesn't even get to make fun of him properly because suddenly Marti looks over, an instict Eva knows better than to ignore.

Gio is at the door and, yeah. He's with Sofia.

Eva has been waiting for him to show up, but now that he's here – now that she gets to see their clasped hands, how careful he is with her, taking her jacket, holding her handbag, offering her a drink – she'd rather he didn't show up at all.

She excuses herself from the guys, murmuring something barely coherent about needing the bathroom, and goes looking for another drink.

“Don't you think that's enough?” Sana asks her later, eyeing her plastic cup, an eyebrow raised. They're sitting... somewhere on a sofa – well, a sofa-type thing in a room with no glass walls. The house is huge, the furniture weird, and the floorplan confusing, especially after the fourth drink. “It's the third one, isn't it?”

Eva doesn't correct her.

“It's fine.” She waves a hand dismissively, a lot more violently than she planned to. She takes a tiny sip of her drink to compensate for her loose limbs. “I can hold my alcohol.”

“I seem to remember differently,” Sana insists, kindly enough, and Eva shrugs.

“It's not even that many drinks. You're just not used to alcohol so you think it's worse than it actually is.”

Sana's lips curve in a sarcastic smile that Eva isn't drunk enough to ignore.

“That must be it,” Sana says in a condescending tone. She probably means to add something else, but she interrupts herself when she spots Fede struggling to make her way over to them through the dancing crowd.

“Silvia is crying in the bathroom,” Fede announces with a grimace as soon as she is within earshot, and Eva stands up abruptly. She wobbles only slightly, which is a victory in itself.

_Silvia crying._

She knows what to do. She can help.

She really needs to focus on something right now. Something that is not long flowy blond hair just in the corner of her eye that never seem to actually be there as soon as she turns to look.

“Which bathroom?” Eva asks. She tries to concentrate on the matter at hand. “Is it because of Edoardo again?”

“The one on the first floor. And yeah, him again.” Fede sighs. “Apparently, she went to talk to him and I don't know what he told her exactly, but...”

“Come on,” Sana stands up too and takes both Fede's and Eva's hands in hers so she won't lose them in the crowd. “On the first floor you said?”

As it turns out, Eva can't even help Silvia right now.

She tries to talk to her through the bathroom door for maybe twenty minutes, receiving only loud sobs as a reply. She shakes her head and moves away as Sana takes her place.

 _Ele would know what to do_ , Eva thinks a bit desperately – and sends her a voice message explaining the situation.

In the end, it's Fede who convinces Silvia to open the door by promising she and Sana will take her home straight away – no questions asked. When the girls offer to take Eva too she tells them not to worry. She'll find a ride. Or a taxi.

Or Gio.

She really wants to find Gio right now.

She's looking for him, a drink she's not even sure really belongs to her in her hand, when she bumps into Marti and Nico. They are sort of not-really-dancing again – and Eva joins them.

She tries to recapture the feeling she had before, when they were dancing together earlier tonight, just the three of them, before Gio arrived at the party – but it's not coming. Eva shakes her head in time with the music to the point of making herself dizzy, but it keeps not coming.

It's so frustrating she drags both Marti and Nico off the dancefloor into a room that's marginally quieter.

“Gio?” Eva asks. She's speaking loudly, the music pounding in her ears, her own voice sounding way too high, way too childish. She almost doesn't recognise it. “Where is Gio? I want to say hi.”

Marti smiles. He touches her shoulder gently in what could be a friendly pat or an attempt to keep her from moving. It's probably both.

“He's outside with Sofia, Eva. I don't think it's a good idea...”

“But I want to say hi! I didn't say hi to him yet!”

“Maybe later?” Nico offers mildly. He smiles too. She's starting to think that maybe they're making fun of her. “Why don't we sit down somewhere together and-”

She waves away Nico's suggestion, whatever it was going to be. If it doesn't involve saying hi to Gio, she doesn't care.

The rest of the conversation is a blur. At one point Ele is there, asking about Silvia, and it takes Eva a while to remember what it is she's talking about.

Oh, yeah, Silvia and Edoardo. It feels like a lifetime ago.

When Eva turns back, Marti and Nico are gone, but for some reason Gio is walking right towards her – it feels like the luckiest coincidence. Eva is so pleased to see him that for a moment she doesn't even notice he's not alone.

“Gio! Hey! Hi!”

“Hey!” Gio smiles and gestures to his left, a bit awkwardly. “Do you remember Sofia?”

Sequins. Lots of sequins. Pretty blond hair – they're even flowier than she remembered – and an endearingly shy smile.

It's probably the heels, Eva knows, but suddenly she feels very very small.

“Of course I do! Unforgettable Sofia!”

The truth of her own words hits her unexpectedly. Unforgettable Sofia.

Forgettable Eva. _Forgotten Eva._

“Listen. If you lose him at some point, don't worry.” Eva smiles at Sofia. It's all okay if she's smiling, right? _Forgotten Eva._ “He's in the bathroom smoking weed with one of his friends.”

Gio is looking at her wide-eyed, like he can't quite believe what he's hearing.

“It's not true, I don't even smoke anymore!”

“Of course you do.” Smile. Smile, smile, smile. Smile like _she_ does. “Get used to it, because he does that.”

“I really don't. We should really, uh... go get a drink now.” Gio clasps Sofia's hand in his and takes a few tentative steps to his right. “See you... see you around, Eva, yeah?”

“Wait, but we were just chatting-”

He's gone.

Eva watches him walk briskly away – Sofia looking back for a moment, her hand in his, her eyes meeting Eva's over her shoulder. She offers her a tiny smile.

Eva could try and tell herself it's a grin, but, well. It'd be a lie. Sofia's smile doesn't look malicious, just worried, like maybe she thinks Eva might start shouting at her any second now. It makes Eva feel even worse.

She doesn't know how long she stands there, staring after Gio and Sofia when they've already disappeared from view. They feel like hours anyway. The next thing she knows is that suddenly everyone around her is moving, collecting their bags, and jackets, and phones...

_“The police are here, we need to go!”_

_“Where are you going? That way! You need to leave, babe. The party's over.”_

… Eva follows the crowd quietly, in a daze. She passes through the glass door and the bower. She crosses the garden and makes it half-way to the front gate before realising she's feeling cold. She's got a jacket in her hands, so she puts it on.

It's not hers.

_Ele._ Why does she have Ele's jacket? Maybe Ele took Eva's jacket home with her. She keeps walking, though without her things, she can hardly get a taxi home, can she? Maybe she could-

“Eva! _Eva!_ ”

Marti.

She doesn't know why exactly, but hearing his voice is a relief.

She turns around and he's there – he really _is_ there. He's solid and sound and real. She hugs him on instict, closing her eyes against the contact, and it's so grounding – like for this one moment things feel like they should again.

“ _Oh!_ Okay?” Marti lets out a surprised laugh and hugs her back. “I've got your jacket. Wait, you already have a jacket.”

“It's not mine,” she says quietly, but she takes her own jacket from his hands anyway. She looks up and focuses on Nico, standing just a few steps behind Marti, his arms clasped behind his back. “Hi.”

Nico smiles at her. He really has the brightest smile.

“Hi,” he says. “We're taking the bus home – well, if we make it. The last one is in about ten minutes. You're coming with us?”

The question is largely courtesy, but Eva nods anyway.

The bus ride feels weirdly quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Eva is sitting next to Marti and in front of Nico, her head on Marti's shoulder, though the bumps in the road make it almost impossible to keep still. She doesn't really care.

In the end, it's her who breaks the comfortable silence they have fallen into.

“He doesn't want me anymore.”

Her voice is surprisingly even. She doesn't say who, but Marti knows anyway. She hears him sigh deeply, though he doesn't reply.

“It hurts,” Eva adds as an afterthought, her tone contemplative, like she's only just now allowing herself to feel it.

Marti wraps an arm around her shoulders and kisses the top of her head gently.

“I know," he says. It sounds a bit like _I'm sorry._

Eva closes her eyes and tries not to think.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from [Cara Catastrofe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dnkc_-7tHo) \- Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica.


End file.
